The government is inviting leaders from 16 countries to Japan in the summer for one of the largest top-level meetings ever on global warming, sources said.

The gathering will be held on the sidelines of the Group of Eight summit, which is scheduled for July 7 through 9 at the Lake Toyako resort in Hokkaido.

In addition to the G-8 leaders, the participants for the global warming talks will come from China, India, South Africa, South Korea, Brazil, Mexico, Australia and Indonesia, the sources said.

The 16 countries account for about 80 percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions.

The Japanese government, as chair of the G-8 summit, hopes to produce a common understanding on a global framework for curbing greenhouse gas emissions after the commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012.

Separately, the government plans to invite leaders from several African nations to discuss African development, another key issue on the summit agenda.

Leaders from more than 20 nations are expected to converge at Lake Toyako during the G-8 summit.

Discussions at the G-8 summit are expected to focus on global long-term goals for cutting greenhouse gas emissions and medium-term targets for individual countries.

The government was preparing to invite China and India, both of which are major greenhouse gas emitters, to exchange information with the G-8 members on global warming. In the end, it sent invitations to the eight non-G-8 countries, including the two, through diplomatic channels.

The government has decided it will be necessary to share G-8 agreements on global warming with leaders from emerging economies because emissions are increasing sharply in fast-growing economies such as China and India.